[WARNING! FOR 18+ ONLY] After a fight with her stepmother, Beverley Holmes suddenly received a wedding invitation that made her face pale. Not because it was from her ex-boyfriend, who was getting married to another woman. It was because the bride's name written on it was her own! How could it be?! So, her stepmother didn't lie to her? The woman had actually sold her to pay off a multi-million dollar debt? Then who is her future husband? *** The first time Brent Oliver saw his future wife on the wedding altar, he vowed never to be seduced by her beauty and sexiness. However, he didn't expect that the more time he spent with her, her innocent, virtuous, and hard-to-get demeanor would be so seductive that it would drive him crazy. Can he continue to maintain his relationship with his secret lover? Or is he stuck with his alluring wife instead?
"Marry?!" Beverley could hardly believe her own ears. Her gaze was filled with confusion as well as shock.
"If I get married, how can I work and raise money to treat James?" asked Beverley.
Her mother, Emma, started to get annoyed. "That's why I want you to marry the son of the Oliver family!"
"So you want to use me to pay off your debts?"
Beverley's eyes were red. Not because she wanted to cry, but because she felt very angry. How could Emma think of such a thing? Is it because Emma is just a stepmother?
"That is not what I mean. I just want you to live comfortably with rich people. You can live in peace without having to think about money. Am I wrong?" Emma asked innocently.
Beverley snorted. "Who do you think you are tricking? Emma, I'm not a kid to be fooled. I will never agree," she hissed sharply. She knew what situation she was in.
Emma, the money-loving stepmother, wants to use her daughter to pay off her debts to the Oliver family. In what way? Marry Beverley to Michael Oliver's son, who is being rumored to be gay!
Beverley was very understanding. The marriage must have only been used to cover up the gay rumors. Of course, she didn't want to. Marriage is a sacred thing. She doesn't want to marry carelessly. Especially, with people who she doesn't know at all.
After all, the one who owed a lot was Emma. Why was she the victim? Why didn't her rotten stepmother marry Michael Oliver's son? She was very happy if her father divorced that crazy woman.
"Why are you looking at me like that? Don't like me, huh?" she asked. She sat piling his feet and looked at Beverley with her head raised.
"If you argue, then I will leave your house and leave your crippled father stranded alone," said Emma quietly. Although it sounds subtle, there is a real threatening tone to it.
"Emma!" Beverley immediately shouted angrily. She clenched her fists so tightly that her body trembled as well. Her eyes were closed, and her mouth was tightly shut.
"You dare shout at me?" Emma furrowed her brows deeply. "Don't think just because I'm a stepmother that you're freely disrespectful to me!" she continued in an elevated tone.
"Then just because I am a stepdaughter, you can freely determine my life?!" Beverley shouted back.
She had had enough of Emma. The woman was by no means a good stepmother. If she knew her true character was like that, then in the past she wouldn't have allowed James to marry her.
Yeah, Beverley's father, James, did remarry after his first wife died. However, this past year James suffered a stroke that made him unable to work anymore.
The extravagant Emma has credit card bills running into millions of dollars. It made her dizzy because she didn't know how to pay it off. In the end, with her husband's sick alibi, she borrowed millions of dollars to pay off the bank bill.
Then who is the person lending the money? That person was Michael Oliver, James' boss. Maybe it was because James was one of his confidants that Michael Oliver could lend that much money.
Sometimes Beverley really wanted to kick Emma out of James' house. However, that was impossible because her father loved the woman very much.
James seems to have been driven mad by Emma, who has a pretty appearance. Could it be that the woman used a magic spell to seduce him?
"Bev, you're all grown up. If you marry a rich man, won't you also benefit?" Emma said sarcastically. She blew on her long red nails and stared at them proudly.
How sickening!
"You should know, Emma. I don't know the man at all. I don't know like his appearance, his nature, and his-"
"Why do you have to think about such things? What is most important is a guaranteed life. Getting married isn't always about love or any bullshit," Emma replied nonchalantly.
Beverley grew even angrier. "What do you mean? Haven't you ever loved James?"
"I didn't say that."
Beverley snorted coldly. She took a deep breath and then exhaled slowly. "I'm not getting married. And your debts have nothing to do with me," she said coldly.
"Well, you can refuse now. However, for sure... you will inevitably go to the wedding altar."
Suddenly Emma stood up and carried her expensive bag. Then the woman sauntered away unconcerned with Beverley's pale face.
Before completely closing the door, Emma turned her sharp gaze at Beverley. "Don't think about running away. I can leave James anytime." After saying that threat, only then did the door actually close.
The room became silent. Beverley's breathing rose and fell erratically. Her hands clenched into fists. Her teeth began to grit.
"You damn woman!" Her voice echoed throughout the room. Luckily no one heard.
The closed-door suddenly opened. A woman who looked to be Beverley's age stepped in. The woman was wearing a blazer that looked quite classy. Her hair, which was tied up high, swayed with her footsteps.
"What's the matter, Bev? I just saw your mother come out of here. Did you two fight again?"
"Don't call her my mother, Katy," Beverley said quietly. She sat on a chair and massaged her dizzy forehead.
Beverley's friend, Katy, sat down as well. "You look so annoyed. You are okay?"
Beverley took a deep breath. "Emma tried to take advantage of me. Katy, she wants to use me to pay off her debt!"
"How could it be? In what way?"
"She's going to marry me to a man I don't even know. Gosh, what should I do now?"
"What the heck! She is crazy!"
Katy was furious. It had been a long time since she had heard stories from Beverley about her stepmother's bad nature and behavior. As her best friend, of course, she didn't like Emma. That woman was like a snake.
"I don't know what to do if she actually did that." Beverley bit her lip.
"What if you run away?" Katy suggested. Unfortunately, Beverley immediately rejected her proposal.
"I can't leave my father. James is sick. I was afraid that Emma would also leave that man alone." She shook her head a few times.
"How much is that debt? Maybe I can lend you a hundred thousand dollars."
Beverley sighed in frustration. "More than that. Even if you sell this cafe, the money won't be enough. There is no other way. If Emma did that deal, they'd never let me go, Katy. My life is over...."
"How Outrageous!" Katy pounded the table in front of her. "If I ever meet your mother-I mean Emma, I want to punch her thick lips!"
Katy suddenly looked at Beverley seriously. "Are you sure she's serious? Did she have the heart to do this to you? I mean... you're still her daughter after all."
Beverley just shook her head weakly. She didn't know if Emma would do that or not.
At that moment, suddenly the door of the room was knocked from outside. A cafe waitress came holding out an ivory yellow invitation that looked very elegant and classy. There is another folded paper tied with a gold ribbon on the invitation.
"Miss Holmes, this is for you," said the waitress.
Beverley's brow furrowed. Hesitantly she took the invitation letter. The recipient's name there was indeed her, Beverley Holmes. Who's getting married? There doesn't seem to be any news of her friends or colleagues getting married soon.
Out of curiosity, she opened the gold ribbon that was there. Then the invitation letter was immediately opened. For a moment, she was silent as she read who the person will marry.
Her heart seemed to stop beating when she saw the name written on it. Her face turned pale. The name of the bride written on the invitation letter is none other than her own name, Beverley Holmes!
"No way," Beverley muttered, lowering her gaze. She immediately read the name of the groom.
Brent Oliver.
Her hands immediately trembled. The invitation slid down to the floor.
"What's the matter, Bev? Who's getting married?" Katy picked up the invitation. And after reading what the bride's name was, her reaction wasn't much different from Beverley's.
"The date... when is the date?" Beverley immediately snatched the invitation from Katy's hands.
"The seventeenth...."
Her body went limp for a moment. It's the sixteenth. That means the wedding will take place tomorrow!
[DARK ROMANCE STORY] "Who sent you to me?" the man asked. His fingers traced every inch of Natalie's beautiful face. "No one." She remained expressionless. "Liar!" Mr. Vittorio grabbed Natalie's long hair with such force that she winced in pain. Tears finally dripped from her eyes. Natalie thought being imprisoned by her ex and losing her modeling career was the most horrible thing in her life. However, she was wrong. Being auctioned off and bought by Don Vittorio was far more horrifying than anything else!
Linsey was stood up by her groom to run off with another woman. Furious, she grabbed a random stranger and declared, "Let's get married!" She had acted on impulse, realizing too late that her new husband was the notorious rascal, Collin. The public laughed at her, and even her runaway ex offered to reconcile. But Linsey scoffed at him. "My husband and I are very much in love!" Everyone thought she was delusional. Then Collin was revealed to be the richest man in the world. In front of everyone, he got down on one knee and held up a stunning diamond ring. "I look forward to our forever, honey."
Everyone was shocked to the bones when the news of Rupert Benton's engagement broke out. It was surprising because the lucky girl was said to be a plain Jane, who grew up in the countryside and had nothing to her name. One evening, she showed up at a banquet, stunning everyone present. "Wow, she's so beautiful!" All the men drooled, and the women got so jealous. What they didn't know was that this so-called country girl was actually an heiress to a billion-dollar empire. It wasn't long before her secrets came to light one after the other. The elites couldn't stop talking about her. "Holy smokes! So, her father is the richest man in the world?" "She's also that excellent, but mysterious designer who many people adore! Who would have guessed?" Nonetheless, people thought that Rupert didn't love her. But they were in for another surprise. Rupert released a statement, silencing all the naysayers. "I'm very much in love with my beautiful fiancee. We will be getting married soon." Two questions were on everyone's minds: "Why did she hide her identity? And why was Rupert in love with her all of a sudden?"
"There will be no falling in love, we will only act as a loving couple when we are in public, we will share a room to make it believable, but no intimacy, touching is off-limits. We'll only have sex once a month, and that's solely to produce an heir. You won't interfere in my business, and I won't interfere in yours. You will be my wife in every sense and you will not be involved with any other man," he said, arrogance seeping from every word. I watch his mouth move, I'm not ready to fall in love with any man, especially not one as arrogant and egoistic as him. I can handle acting as a loving couple, and as for intimacy once a month. I can agree to that just to satisfy my sexual cravings with no strings attached. "Where can I sign?" I asked since I had nothing to lose. *** Nadine's wedding dreams turned to nightmares when she caught her sister and fiancé cheating! With a secret recording, she's ready for revenge. But then mysterious billionaire Logan West offers a deal: A Contract Marriage to take down her ex's empire. But what Nadine doesn't know is her life is getting complicated as she takes her chance to get revenge or risks everything for a chance at love?"
After two years of marriage, Sadie was finally pregnant. Filled with hope and joy, she was blindsided when Noah asked for a divorce. During a failed attempt on her life, Sadie found herself lying in a pool of blood, desperately calling Noah to ask him to save her and the baby. But her calls went unanswered. Shattered by his betrayal, she left the country. Time passed, and Sadie was about to be wed for a second time. Noah appeared in a frenzy and fell to his knees. "How dare you marry someone else after bearing my child?"
On her wedding day, Khloe’s sister connived with her groom, framing her for a crime she didn’t commit. She was sentenced to three years in prison, where she endured much suffering. When Khloe was finally released, her evil sister used their mother to coerce Khloe into an indecent liaison with an elderly man. As fate would have it, Khloe crossed paths with Henrik, the dashing yet ruthless mobster who sought to alter the course of her life. Despite Henrik’s cold exterior, he cherished Khloe like no other. He helped her take retribution from her tormentors and kept her from being bullied again.
"I stood at the edge of my heart and watched him choose her. In the end, I was not the one he needed. I was simply the one he settled for." - Noelle ~~~~~~~ I thought I was the one he loved. But a few days before our wedding, I saw him in a way I never had before. His eyes softened as he spoke to her. His first love, and the very woman who had left him in pieces. Heartbreak was something I knew too well. And as I watched the love he still held for her in his eyes, I realized what I had to do. I couldn't marry a man who wasn't truly mine. With no means to cancel the wedding and lacking the courage to confront him, I made a desperate choice to leave. I painfully gave his first love my treasured engagement ring thinking it was for the best and the only way to free myself. But when he saw that ring on her finger, the fragile world I had tried to escape began to shatter. His obsession to find me and bring me back ignited a dangerous game of cat and mouse.